Example
Miss C applied for a crisis grant for living expenses after her tax credits were suspended and she had no money for food and living expenses.
The council initially declined the award as they stated that her need wasn’t immediate as she had a small amount of food, and gas and electricity left. Following her first tier review request, the council changed their original decision and made an award for her family to cover a 14 day period.
Miss C then applied to SPSO for an independent review of the case. We considered the facts and circumstances of the case and noted that the applicant had stated that HMRC had told her it would take 28 days to resolve the issue. This was also mentioned in her first tier review request. As such, we assessed that the council had discretion to make a 28 day award to ensure the support given met the need (7.8 of the guidance). We therefore instructed the council to make an additional 14 day award. We also provided feedback that the council's first tier letter did not provide sufficient information about the duration of the award.